Ahead of the upcoming meeting of the International Maritime Organization’s Intersessional Working Group on Reduction of GHG Emissions from Ships  and its Marine Environment Protection Committee , Delaine McCullough, President of the Clean Shipping Coalition and Ocean Conservancy’s Shipping Program Director said:

“At this week’s ISWG-GHG meeting, to lay the groundwork for the upcoming adoption of the Net-Zero Framework (NZF), IMO member states must continue filling in critical details on components of the NZF and the Life Cycle Assessment guidelines, in order to provide the greater clarity some member states requested during October’s MEPC ES.2. Member states must use these coming days to build out key guidelines, such as those for incentives for first movers and how to measure the emissions from different fuels, to allow for adoption of the NZF later this year.”

“During MEPC 84 next week, IMO member states have three opportunities to ensure that progress is made towards slashing GHG emissions from shipping, minimising fuel burn and the overall cost of the energy transition. The first is to strengthen and make enforceable the Carbon Intensity Indicator, the IMO’s cornerstone energy efficiency measure. The second is to ensure the Net Zero Framework (NZF) is not watered down on its way to adoption. Third is to make sure the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) guidelines include sustainability criteria that account for biodiversity and human rights impacts, real world emissions factors for methane-based fuels, and reflect GHG emissions of indirect land use change caused by production of biogenic fuels.”

“The Net Zero Framework is imperfect, but includes all of the critical technical and economic elements to allow IMO and the shipping industry to meet the climate commitments they set themselves in the 2023 IMO GHG Strategy, as well as their commitment to ensuring that all countries have the opportunity to fully participate in the shipping energy transition – or at least are not harmed by it. It is the outcome of years of negotiations and compromise and has broad support among IMO member states. Anything less would be a climate failure and a political dead end.”

“To address its significant climate impact, the shipping sector must transform both how it uses energy–dramatically improving efficiency –and the type of energy it uses, shifting to wind propulsion, electricity and new zero-emission fuels. Pricing GHG emissions is the linchpin for enforceability and closing the price gap between the dirty fossil fuels the industry runs on and zero-emission energy. Critically, the fee sets a clear and predictable price signal for industry actors and generates funds that are needed to incentivize the energy transition and ensure no countries are left behind, particularly small island developing states and least developed countries.”